104 out of over 1,500 Stranded Indian Kailash Mansarovar Pilgrims in Nepal Rescued

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, July 3, 2018 (Times of India): Over 100 Indian pilgrims were evacuated from Simikot in Nepal on Tuesday as rescue work intensified to bring back safely more than 1,500 Indians who have been stranded in Nepal’s mountainous region due to heavy rain while returning from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet. “So far 104 pilgrims have been rescued from the site. Seven commercial flights have so far been operated for the rescue work,” an Indian Embassy official told PTI. Four embassy staff, two each in Simikot and Tibet, have been deployed with necessary facilities so that the stranded pilgrims could contact with their home in India, the official said. Meanwhile, two Indian pilgrims — Narayanam Leela, 56, of Kerela and Satya Laxmi of Andra Pradesh — have died, Humla district police office said.

Earlier, the Indian embassy here said in a statement that there are about 525 Indian pilgrims stranded in Simikot in Humla district, 550 in Hilsa and other 500 on the Tibet side. The embassy is continuously monitoring the situation along Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa route of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (through Nepal), the statement said, as the weather remains inclement. The embassy said it has placed its representatives in Nepalganj and Simikot, who are personally in touch with every stranded pilgrim. They are ensuring that proper food and lodging facilities are available to the pilgrims.